Articles

On Saturday 9 February, the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU)
organised a country-wide day of protest action around the slogan, ‘Lift
the burden – jobs not debt’, in the major cities and towns across
Ireland, including Dublin, Cork, Galway, Waterford, Limerick and Sligo.

The aim of the protests, according to ICTU, was to send a message across
Europe that the €64 billion bank debt which workers in Ireland are being
forced to pay is unsustainable. But the intention of the ICTU leaders
was also, essentially, to support the Irish coalition government’s
austerity efforts – particularly the junior coalition partner Labour
Party – to secure a “better deal”. This is a continuation of ICTU’s
policy of co-operation with the government, in order to quell the
discontent in society, hold back struggle and allow the implementation
of the austerity programme.

A more blatant abdication of their official role as defenders of and
fighters for workers’ interests would be difficult to imagine. This
mealy-mouthed stance came after two full years in which the trade union
leadership were virtually absent from all areas of social, economic and
political discourse in Ireland (the last significant action organised by
the ICTU was a demonstration in Dublin of roughly 80,000, in November
2010, following the sell-out austerity agreement between unions and
government, known as the Croke Park Deal).

This also coincided with the most savage onslaught of austerity on
working class people in the history of the State, leading to widespread
demoralisation of workers and the unemployed.

Under pressure from those that are opposing austerity, such as the
Campaign Against Household and Water Taxes (CAHWT), and in an attempt to
channel opposition down a more innocuous route, the protests were
called. The intention by ICTU leaders is to be seen to do something,
regardless of how ineffective or whether it is what their members are
actually pressing for. Like other ICTU organised events in the recent
past, the idea is that marching will let off steam, while the union
leadership goes back into “talks” with the government. But these tactics
are beginning to wear thin and the lack of any strategy from ICTU is
becoming ever clearer.

By spinning figures of 110,000 participants across Ireland on the
protests on 9 February, the ICTU leadership are keen to talk up their
strength and authority, but this markedly contrasts with the attitude of
those very participants – mainly rank and file trade unionists. Many
left the protests in disgust. In Dublin, instead of hearing a fighting
strategy being offered by the trade union movement, the ICTU General
Secretary, David Begg, made a short contribution – before the vast bulk
of the crowd had even gathered at the stage– and then the platform was
left to various comedy and music performers. “We didn’t come here to be
entertained!” was the angry cry of one woman, which summed up the mood
of many others.

Role of campaign against unfair taxes

This aversion by ICTU leaders to addressing the thousands of protesters
is the result of being heckled on such occasions in the past, most
notably on the demonstration on November 2010 and more recently on a
pre-budget march in Dublin, in November 2012.

A more accurate estimate for numbers taking part on the 9 February
protests is around 60,000. In Waterford, a city with a tradition of
working class militancy, where 15,000 people marched in November 2012 to
oppose the closure of a local hospital , only 2,000 came out for the 9
February demonstration. This, and the turnout overall – which was
probably half of what the ICTU hoped for – is undoubtedly a sign of the
diminished authority of the ICTU among working class people.

There is a crisis of real leadership facing the Irish working class,
which is under ferocious attack. Space is opening up for genuine
campaigns that challenge austerity to fill the void. The Campaign
Against Household and Water Taxes (CAHWT) and the battle against the
Property Tax have a crucial role to play in this context, with 50% of
single home owners continuing to boycott the Household Tax. The
unwarranted harassment of CAHWT organisers by ICTU stewards on the 9
February demonstrations, of which there were many cases, shows that
perhaps the ICTU bureaucracy also understand this possibility.

On 11 February, on the suggestion of the Socialist Party, the CAHWT
staged direct action protests and occupations of local council meetings,
as a way of stepping up the political pressure on the Labour and Fine
Gael coalition parties. In one protest, five people were arrested,
including Paul Murphy MEP and three other Socialist Party members. These
incidents were widely covered by the Irish media. Similar actions,
increasing political pressure, will be a feature of the activity of the
tax campaign in the coming months.